Gov. Jeff Landry’s 2026 legislative agenda includes eliminating judgeships in New Orleans, nixing car inspection stickers and putting more dollars toward technical and vocational training. Speaking at his annual State of the State address on Monday, the governor also continued his campaign to increase funding for the state’s private school voucher program, which has received pushback over its effectiveness and price tag. The Louisiana Illuminator’s Piper Hutchinson reports:
“It’s not whether you support GATOR or not,” (Senate President Cameron) Henry said. “It’s not whether or not you support a program taking kids from a failing school and putting them in a good school … It’s whether that’s what the program actually does, and can you afford to do it?”
Landry also pushed for more support for the MJ Foster Program, which helps people from low- and moderate-income households train for jobs in high-demand occupations at Louisiana community colleges:
The state spends approximately $300 million on TOPS, which funds four-year degrees, but just $6 million on vocational and technical students, according to the governor. He called that a significant imbalance, adding that only “30% of new jobs were are creating” in Louisiana require a four-year degree. … Sen. Royce Duplessis and Rep. Shaun Mena, both New Orleans Democrats, said they support the governor’s idea to expand the MJ Foster program, noting that four-year college degrees aren’t necessary to get a well-paying career.
The governor also doubled down on his desire to eliminate the state income tax – and the revenue it generates:
Based on the most recent figures from the state revenue department, individual income taxes accounted for 36% of Louisiana’s revenue in fiscal year 2023-24. When the corporate income tax revenue was added, the share climbed to 43% two years ago. Last year was the first under Louisiana’s new flat income tax, which dropped the rate to 3% for individuals across all incomes and 5.5% for businesses. As of December, the state’s Revenue Estimating Committee calculated the state anticipated a $217 million increase in its take despite the lower income tax rates.
Louisiana impacts of H.R.1
The federal tax and budget megabill includes massive tax breaks that will benefit wealthy people and large corporations, which will be partially offset by cuts to safety-net programs used by people with low incomes. Invest in Louisiana’s Jan Moller joined the Bayou to Beltway Podcast to explain how this dynamic will affect Louisiana:
We don’t have a ton of wealthy people in Louisiana. We don’t have a lot of huge, national corporations, so the tax cuts are mostly going to people out of state. We do have a lot of poor people who need things like food assistance, and healthcare, and those are the programs being cut. The main concern that we have is how this changes the relationship between the federal and the state government.
Allegations of unlawful immigration detention
The number of undocumented immigrants who claim they are being held unlawfully has skyrocketed during the Trump administration’s nationwide immigration crackdown. These cases have increased dramatically in Louisiana, which has become a key cog in the White House’s immigration machinery. Verite’s Bobbi-Jeanne Misick reports:
A Verite News analysis of court records found that immigrants have filed at least 752 such cases since the beginning of Trump’s second term — 378 of them in the first two months of 2026 alone. That’s compared to 29 for all of 2024, President Joe Biden’s last year in office. “We have so many thousands of cases that are being decided on new questions that are really squarely within the [bounds] of habeas corpus,” said Nora Ahmed, legal director for the ACLU of Louisiana, which has represented plaintiffs in a number of immigration habeas petitions, in a phone interview last month.
There’s a difference between recent habeas corpus petitions and those of previous administrations:
Now, Ahmed said, there are more cases alleging that the detention itself, not just the duration of detention, is unconstitutional, because the government is arresting more people who have been living in the United States for long periods of time, many with various humanitarian protections that prevent the government from deporting them to their home counties.
Consumer protection agency retreats
The number of consumer complaints that Experian and TransUnion have resolved in customers’ favor has been sharply reduced over the last year. Congress created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the aftermath of the Great Recession to protect consumers from predatory and unfair lending practices, but the agency has been dismantled by the Trump administration. ProPublica’s Joel Jacobs reports:
In February 2025, Russell Vought, a White House official who oversaw sweeping cuts across federal agencies, took control of the CFPB as acting director. He quickly ordered a stop to nearly all agency work. Under his leadership, the CFPB has attempted to fire most of its staff, frozen investigations and dropped enforcement actions, including against TransUnion. One of the CFPB’s new lawyers leading the pullback on enforcement represented Experian for years before joining the administration.
Having legitimate credit reporting complaints go unresolved has real-life consequences:
CFPB data shows that since Trump’s inauguration in January 2025, more than 2.7 million credit reporting complaints submitted to the CFPB have gone without relief, leaving some people at risk of being denied loans, housing or employment and subject to higher rates from insurers and lenders.
Number of the Day
$1,648 – Monthly budget needed to afford health care for a family of four (two adults and two children) living in the Monroe metro area (Source: Economic Policy Institute)